Sustainable Sheep and Fiber Community of Northern minnesota
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        • Instructor bio
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        • Workshop Descriptions 2020
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        • Workshop Descriptions 2019
        • Instructor Bios 2019
        • Interviews with Speakers 2019
      • Sheep event 2018 >
        • Instructor Bios 2018
        • Workshop Descriptions 2018
        • Wool Judging Information
    • Beginning Shepherding >
      • Workshop Descriptions
      • Instructor Biographies
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    • 4H Sheep Day
    • Farm Tours >
      • Marsh Creek Crossing Tour/Felt Workshop
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      • Clearwater County Fair
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    • Junior Board Internship Program
  • Yurt Project
    • Linda Johnson-Morke Bio
    • Deborah McQueen Coder Bio
    • Donating Wool for Yurt Project

Fiber Gatherings Under the Pines

January 13, 2023 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.  Clearwaters Life Center, 226 Elm St. Gonvick, MN 56644

Bring your wheel (in working order), or spindle, or come learn some techniques on the wheels and spindles provided. You are welcome to bring tea and treats to share or just come and see what all the fun is about. Everyone welcome!  This is a free event, please register at 218-657-2502 or sustainablesheep@gmail.com

February 11, 2023  1 p.m. to 3 p.m.  
Clearwaters Life Center, 226 Elm St. Gonvick, MN 56644

Bring your wheel (in working order), or spindle, or come learn some techniques on the wheels and spindles provided. You are welcome to bring tea and treats to share or just come and see what all the fun is about. Everyone welcome!  This is a free event, please register at 218-657-2502 or sustainablesheep@gmail.com

March 10, 2023  MN 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.  Clearwaters Life Center, 226 Elm St. Gonvick, MN 56644

Bring your wheel (in working order), or spindle, or come learn some techniques on the wheels and spindles provided. You are welcome to bring tea and treats to share or just come and see what all the fun is about. Everyone welcome!  This is a free event, please register at 218-657-2502 or sustainablesheep@gmail.com

September 23, 2023 Season Finale!
​

PicturePhoto by Margo Hanson: Display in Norway
September 23, 2023  10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Season Finale of Fiber Gatherings Under the Pines

Bagley American Legion
112 Main Ave N
Bagley, MN 56621
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This event is a bit different, we have guest speakers and still time to show your latest projects or come learn a new fiber art technique.


Margo Hanson will be presenting a slide show of her 2016 trip to Norway. Margo's husband Ray and Margo began their tour in Oslo with the park featuring hundreds of  statues created by  Gustav Vigeland. Driving northwest, they were able to trace family history from the Upland region to the Hallingdal region. Being shepherds, a visit to a working sheep farm in Hemsedal was a highlight of the trip.  Touring Borgund Stave Church and  farmland of the Gran area they also found interesting.  Following the northwest coast to Alesund, the scenery is mountainous and beautiful with lots of tunnels. Margo and her husband found Norway to be a clean, friendly destination and would love to go back again.

Margo Hanson and her husband Ray retired from Alaska to a picturesque property overlooking Marsh Creek, near Twin Valley, MN, in 2006.  After tearing out old barbed wire and completing a new high tensile electric fence, they decided to get into the sheep business, mainly to keep down the grass and overgrown brush. Their starter flock of registered Border Leicesters was OPP negative, which they have continued to maintain, adding various breeds such as SireMax and Gotland, and most recently Wensleydales. Selling the wool has become an important part of the business, with most sales being online. They try to keep their ewe flock around 30 with at least half a dozen rams. 

Linda Johnson-Morke will present "No Wadmal at Walmart!"

I'm sure you know about Walmart,  but come and learn about Wadmal and it's importance to Northern Scandinavian culture in Viking times and even today. Learn how important wool and sheep were to the Viking era and how our own survival could be tied to theirs.

Linda has been a fiber enthusiast for the majority of her life. Knitting started at 5 years old and twisting her hair at an even younger age. Knitting led to spinning (something more that her hair) which led to sheep and rabbits. Felting led to different sheep, trips to Norway and Mongolia and a passion for understanding why wools felt differently. Being an engineer by training and curious by nature resulted in many years of fiber experimentation as an outlet for her creativity. A 10 year hiatus from the corporate world led to a line of fulled wool products sold both wholesale and retail. A shepherd for more than 30 years, Linda has shepherded Navajo Churro, Border Leicester, Cheviot, Hampshire, Karakul, Finnish Landrace, Icelandic, Texel, Blue Faced Leicester (BFL),Tunis and Gotland sheep. Her current flock consists of Icelandic & BFL crosses, Karakul and Gotland sheep. Her latest project was directing the felting of a Mongolian yurt in Northern Minnesota. Linda currently lives on a farm in Isanti, MN and enjoys sharing what she has learned through classes and lectures.






Picture
Photo by Margo Hanson: Sheep on a working farm in Norway
Picture
Photo by Margo Hanson: Wool items on display in Norway
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  • Home
  • About
    • Join
    • Brochure
    • Documents >
      • Articles of Incorporation
      • Certificate of Incorporation
      • ByLaws
      • 990N
      • 501C3 Exemption Letter
      • Board of Directors Minutes >
        • Minutes 2016
        • Minutes 2017
        • Minutes 2018
        • Minutes 2019
        • Minutes 2020
        • Minutes 2021
        • Minutes 2022
  • Events
    • Fiber Gatherings Under the Pines >
      • Fiber Gatherings Under the Pines 2023
      • Fiber Gathering Under the Pines 2019
    • Sustainable Sheep Event >
      • Sustainable Sheep Event 2023
      • Sheep Event 2022 >
        • Instructor bios 2022
      • Sheep Event 2021 >
        • Instructor bio
      • Sheep Event 2020 >
        • Workshop Descriptions 2020
      • Sheep Event 2019 >
        • Workshop Descriptions 2019
        • Instructor Bios 2019
        • Interviews with Speakers 2019
      • Sheep event 2018 >
        • Instructor Bios 2018
        • Workshop Descriptions 2018
        • Wool Judging Information
    • Beginning Shepherding >
      • Workshop Descriptions
      • Instructor Biographies
    • Farm to Fiber Festival
    • 4H Sheep Day
    • Farm Tours >
      • Marsh Creek Crossing Tour/Felt Workshop
    • SSFC Presence at Fairs >
      • Clearwater County Fair
    • In the News
  • Local Producers
  • Contact
  • Board of Directors
    • Junior Board Internship Program
  • Yurt Project
    • Linda Johnson-Morke Bio
    • Deborah McQueen Coder Bio
    • Donating Wool for Yurt Project